Doors open: 20:00
Start: 20:30
18 years age limit
Smalltown Supersound x MUNCH presents:
Smalltown Supersound – the Norwegian independent label that commands international respect – and MUNCH announce a very special collaboration in connection with the exhibition Trembling Earth. The exhibition is all about the importance of nature in Edvard Munch’s art. Some of the label’s key artists have created new tracks directly inspired by the atmospheric landscapes, organic processes and cosmic visions displayed in the exhibition. These exclusive pieces have been compiled on a double LP which is launched at tonight’s event.
This evening’s live sets from three Smalltown Supersound artists promise a journey through lush, evocative soundscapes. Kara-Lis Coverdale premieres a new collection of solo piano works. Carmen Villain builds dense, intimate sonic worlds. And the evening ends with an audio-visual treat: a rare live appearance from Actress.
Ranging from techno to organ music, ambient flute and pulsing R&B, this evening will be a natural fusion of music, sound and art.
Working with elements of techno, electro, R&B and concrète, electronic luminary Darren Cunningham aka Actress has patented a sound that’s instantly recognisable, impossible to emulate and responsible for some of the most beloved electronic albums of recent times as cited by Pitchfork's "100 Best Albums of the Decade So Far", The Guardian, FACT, Resident Advisor, DAZED, The Wire and more. Supporters and collaborators include Sampha, Mount Kimbie, Dean Blunt, Thom Yorke, Damon Albarn, Benji B, Overmono, Jon Hopkins, Soccer Mommy, Tirzah, Joy Orbison and many more. As part of a joint commission with visual artists, Actual Objects (Yves Tumor, Charli XCX, Offset), Actress scored the installation Grey Interiors; appeared in the four-part film Nike x Patta present: The Wave by Mahaneela; was part of the BBC documentary Dark Matter: A History of the Afrofuture; and appeared as a panellist at the 2022 BFI London Film Festival for a discussion on the roots of Techno and it’s cultural journey.
The diverse sonic worlds that Carmen Villain has built over her career are shaped by her natural curiosity of sound. Her music hits a sweet spot between dub's blunt rhythmic lilt and cosmic fourth world, with snatches of instruments such as the flute, voice and clarinet creating evocative granular soundscapes and melodies. Her most recent studio album, Only Love From Now On, was released to critical acclaim, landing on several end of year lists, including Pitchfork and Resident Advisor, with the latter calling it “a masterpiece of jazz-informed ambient and downtempo.” Last year she released Music from The Living Monument, with music she composed for Eszter Salamon’s contemporary dance performance for Carte Blanche. Carmen has brought her atmospheric live performance to venues and festivals such as ICA London, Berlin Atonal, Dekmantel and Mutek. She has often invited luminaries and like minds for collaboration, including Actress, Arve Henriksen, Biosphere, Huerco S and Jenny Hval. Carmen Villain is half Norwegian, half Mexican, and lives in Oslo. At Munch she will be joined by flutist Johanna Orellana.
Kara-Lis Coverdale is a composer and musician from Canada with Estonian heritage. Coverdale’s music is a temporal anomaly, weaving the hyper future with sacred histories, informed by her background as a church organist and music director from age 12 and her explorative and wide reaching career in expanding the vocabulary of electronic music. Coverdale’s works are multi-medial, exploring digital, electronic and acoustic languages with fluidity and ease. She presents installations and works all over the world including at The Barbican, MAC, Elbphilharmonic, Köln Philharmonic, and more. In addition to their solo work, Kara-Lis is a prolific collaborator, having recently completed commissions of new work with Contemporaneous Ensemble, The Amsterdam Cello Octet, Ludens Choir, Actress, Caterina Barbieri, and Lyra Pramuk, while engaged on concert tour with Big Thief, Floating Points, and Caribou. The new solo piano works to be presented at MUNCH were written in deep concentration in Winter, in the middle of the night, in a small rural studio in Valens, Canada. They are evocative of the artist’s approach to primitive ecological fantasy and formal metaphor. This will be the first time they are presented to a live audience.
In the period April-August 2024, the record label Smalltown Supersound sets sound to Edvard Munch's art through concerts, commissioned works and a separate record with the same name as the exhibition Trembling Earth. The exhibition addresses the cosmic in Munch's art, a theme that has also been important throughout Smalltown Supersound's musical history.
Actress Photo: Iain Forbes
Carmen Villain Photo: Signe Luksengard
Kara-Lis Coverdale Photo: Adam Feingold
